Weekly Good Things 2025: May Intentions
Good Things and *May Intentions*.
Hello! Hello! Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things – your guide to living intentionally and more fully one good thing at a time! I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more.
I’m back from a week in our nation’s capital, at the AgeTech Collaborative from AARP conference, which I’ve joked is a sort of spiritual top-off that the team invites us to each year with fellow founders in the AgeTech space.
8 years into building Ompractice remotely, I’m always grateful for time away from the computer to connect with people in person. Conference topics always run the gamut, but the things I’m still thinking about a few days out: the alpha daughter as prototype care giver, using the term care partner vs caregiver (often more applicable to how people see themselves, particularly in the sandwich generation). Sam Jordan came to give a fantastic talk on futurism with this great nugget:
“Pessimism is easy. Optimism is harder, because it requires you to do something about it.”
As a nice bonus, in my off-hours, I did lots of running and walking all around the city, and made it a point to get in a few museums, including my very favorite Peacock Room in the Freer Gallery of Art on the National Mall, designed by James McNeill Whistler. I always thought he did his mother dirty with his portrait of her, but.. she did in fact look that dour.
And I headed to a *fantastic* new-to-me museum, Planet Word, an interactive museum focused on language, with really cool exhibits that merged technology and art.
In one area, you get to record yourself giving a famous speech, which you then can have emailed you! I was overwhelmed with the choices – Lion King! Oprah! and opted for Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the troops which includes this fabulous quote:
“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm: to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”
They also have karaoke, a photo booth, and a magical library that plays interactive videos when you take down a book. Fun for word nerds of all ages.
👋 If you are new here, welcome! I try to fill these newsletters with a little something for everyone. (If you are just here for the food, it’s at the end! Feel free to scroll, I won’t judge!)
May Intentions
Each month I sit down and write out a list of intentions for the month ahead. It’s not exactly a to-do list, more like an “options” list. Place-holders also help me make space for more exciting adventures! Many of my intentions remain the same month to month, but I try to pick out a few new things regularly!
How do I want to feel this month? Given that it’s a few weeks into the month already, “hanging in there!” – but I’m excited to be ramping up my outdoors time, and already feel much more restored because of it.
Out and About
A movie in the theater (got myself a West Newton Cinema membership, and heading to the Director’s interview with Peter Miller at the Marcella showing) • Monthly Boston dinner with my friend Kathy • Monthly family dinner out with my mom and brother (we did Little Whale) • A walk on the cold ocean, and assorted beach finds (rocks, shells) • An art class • A cooking class • A visit to a Trustees property • a guided tour of something! • Very long walks with friends • “Commute Home Project” where I take public transportation away from my house and then walk or run home: (I’ve done Boston Landing, Wellesley, and I’m gearing up to take the train to Natick this week)
Good Eats
Noma Tastebuds Club • Bean Club • update your 2024 kitchen resolutions for 2025 (usually I do this the first few weeks of the year!) • NOVELTY! • more chewy noodles • All things Korean right now • another trip to HMart for a hot sweet potato • Lobster Roll Quest season is ON
Some Meal Ideas:
Recipes of Note: dense bean salad season (really anything
is making these daysSeafood: it’s Lobster Roll Season! I also love crab rolls, and am working my way up to clam season (whole clams, usually from Bob’s Clam Hut, or Clam Box).
Rice bowls with: fish from Sakanaya, or Korean-ish with kimchi and seaweed
America: a hot dog from Flo’s, BerryLine Frozen Yogurt
Noodle things: Cold sesame noodles. Vietnamese Bun. Cold Korean noodles (Naengmyeon). Udon. Still trying to find good fresh rice noodles in the Boston area.
Vegetables I want to eat: Turkish tomato and cucumber salad, asparagus, artichokes, endives with citrus/vinaigrette/goat cheese ala Jaleo, Greek greens (chicory; spinach and rice), more Kale Sauce. Things with ramps. Something interesting from
’s archives. Garlic Scape pesto when they pop up. // first of my lettuce starts should be pickable in a few weeks!Fruits: I have little green plums that I picked up at Super Vanak that I plan on making a Turkish-Jewish sweet and sour fish dish with sauce Avramila
Treats: I’ve been eating little slices of Dandelion Chocolate Tokyo Gateau // bagels from St. Viateur
Drinks: a Rancatore’s chocolate shake for dinner on a hot evening! (Because I’m an adult and can make my own choices!) // things with Sour Cherry juice (vişne) // iced green tea
Out: Kaffestugan at the Scandinavian Living Center. Formaggio Kitchen Barbecue Season (weekends 11-2!) Maybe this is my Oleana month? (Will Michelin be the downfall of reservations in Boston?)
What are you looking forward to eating this month? I’d love to add to the list!
Self Care
Self-Care Short List • Massage as a health benefit not a luxury • Manicure • Acupuncture • Eye Masks in the fridge in the morning • Sauna time at the Y down the street
Move
Lift (Weekly Lifting 3x/week) • GVRAT! (Although this year it’s Transcon R2: Cincinnati to St. Louis (virtually) which has me walking/running somewhere between 12k daily steps to 10 miles a day • a few epically long walks (I’m aiming to try a Boston Marathon walk; and got a little inspired by the folks who walked from Boston to NH last week - locals, please enjoy this pronunciation of Billerica) • mobility work • designing a morning stretching routine I can stick with
Update Lists
Inputs List (Podcasts, Reading, Watching) • Recipes to Cook / Let’s Eat Spreadsheet • Cooking Projects 2025 • Bean of the Week • Hobonichi Monthly Review 2025 (been inconsistent) • Placeholders for “Once in a Lifetime monthly activities” • The LIFE BINDER
Create
Daily Hobonichi Cousin (Food, Gratitude, Mood) • 2025 Calendar • Sketch in Sketchbook • Watercolor pens • Shortlist of new art projects to try: botanical drawing? oil pastels? • a class at New Art Center or Shepherd Maudsleigh • 100 Videos! • more opportunity to collaborate with friends on creative projects • Linocuts!
Home
List 5 things to giveaway on Buy Nothing • wash dog beds • tidy up downstairs entrance • go through clothing drawers for seasonal clear out • Short list for my “Life Binder” • replace the air filter • get my car interior cleaned (Allston Car Wash) • Oil Sensor • Take Dahlias out of the entryway • Quarterly Kitchen Purge
Inputs
🎧 Podcasts to listen list: see Podcasts Now
📖 TBR List: next up in Sanderson’s Secret Projects, Laurie Woolever ‘Care and Feeding”, Emily Henry ‘Great Big Beautiful Life’, John Green ‘Everything is Tuberculosis’, Robert Caro ‘The Power Broker’, Gretchen Rubin ‘The Secrets of Adulthood’, Ramit Sethi’s ‘Money for Couples’, Suleika Jaouad’s ‘The Book of Alchemy’
📺 TV up next/watching: the new season of Andor, The Great, Deli Boys, Ludwig, America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston
🎥 Movies up next: Mickey 17, In the Grey, Love Me, Flow, The Monkey, Paddington in Peru, Soundtrack to a Coup d'État, My Dead Friend Zoe, Thunderbolts, Accountant 2, The Ballad of Wallace Island, Marcella
Connect more Deeply with my Humans:
friend calls on my walks • initiate texts and love to friends (this is hard for me!) • Dog Walks with Friends • Porch Sitting season! • Plan summer travel • Plan summer “learn with friends” • Bertram “babysitting” our kiddo neighbor
The Week Meal Plan: Coming this weekend ◡̈
Here’s to a very good week!
xo, Sam